Domovoi
by Kenya Starflight
Summary: When the Kaidanovskys miraculously survive the battle at Hong Kong, it opens up all-new questions about the bond between Jaeger co-pilots... and the even more inexplicable bond between Rangers and their Jaeger. CONTAINS SPOILERS, proceed at your own risk if you have not yet seen the movie.
1. Chapter 1

**Domovoi**

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This film takes place immediately after the events of _Pacific Rim, _and contains massive spoilers. Proceed at your own risk if you have not yet seen the film._

_Prologue_

The battle was over. They had won. And yet for many, victory had never felt so much like bitter defeat.

Helicopters swarmed the harbor, some hauling off the offline but still whole Striker Eureka while others cast searchlights over the ocean, looking for any sign of a body or an escape pod in the churning waters. Salvage boats plowed through the waves in an effort to get closer to the ruined remains of Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha – even destroyed, a Jaeger was still precious, a source of research materials and spare parts for its still-intact brethren. Patrol boats fanned out to set up a perimeter and keep nosy civilians away from the site, while a research vessel dropped anchor and set to work, testing the waters to ensure that Kaiju blood and nuclear material from Cherno's reactor wouldn't sully the harbor waters beyond recovery.

There was a somber air to everyone's actions, despite the celebratory announcements that came over the Shatterdome radio frequency at regular intervals. Otatchi and Leatherback had been defeated, but at a terrible price. Two of the PPDC's most valuable Jaegers had been destroyed in the battle… and five of their best Rangers had paid the ultimate price to protect the city. Even in the light of Gipsy Danger's victory, it felt like a grim day.

Edgar Stone, captain of the salvage vessel _Weak Anthropic Principle, _peered through the driving rain at the mangled, twisted framework his boat's winches and cranes were dragging closer. The wreck was so badly charred and warped by some kind of explosion that it was hard to tell what it was at first glance. Whatever it was, it was way too big for the _WAP _to haul aboard. They'd simply have to tow it back to dock and let the Shatterdome's crew handle it.

"Get it sternside and get a tow line on it!" he shouted over the pelting rain. "And let's move it! We don't want to be out here all day!"

The crew obeyed with surprising speed. No one wanted to be here any longer than necessary. It wasn't just the rain, either – there was a heavy feeling to the air, as if the deaths of the Wei Tang triplets and the Kaidanovskys had permanently tainted this place.

"Yow!" A crew member jerked his hand back from the metallic framework, waving it frantically. "Sonofabitch, it's still hot!"

"That's not heat, that's acid!" another shouted. "Get your glove off!"

The burned crew member ripped off what was left of his glove and hurled it over the side of the boat, then hunched over his hand with a pained cry. Thankfully he hadn't come in contact with more than a drop or two, but the acid was still powerful enough that it had eaten a deep hole in his palm.

"No one touches that thing except to put the tow line on!" Stone ordered. "And bail some water on it to get the acid off first! Not gonna lose anyone to stupidity this time. I don't wanna repeat of that incident in Taiwan."

"That was only the one time," someone muttered, then hurried away before Stone could identify them.

Several crew members went right to work, pitching buckets of water at the framework in an effort to rinse off some of the acid. Then one foolhardy crewman climbed up onto the railing and began to search the wreck for a place to attach a tow line.

"Looks like a cockpit, sir!" he shouted.

"I don't care if it looks like the friggin' _Titanic, _just get the line on it!" Stone shouted back.

"I don't think we've got the engine power to haul something this big back!" the crewman retorted, and leaned forward to hook the tow line to a helpful knob of metal that jutted from the wreck. "We'll wreck the _WAP _trying!"

"Just follow orders already! We don't have all day!"

The crewman made sure the tow line was secure, then glanced up, as if taking one last look at their haul before stepping back. Whatever he saw made him reel back, almost falling off the railing.

"There's bodies in there!"

Stone flinched. Bodies in a salvage find were never a good sign… and if he were just a little more superstitious he might have ordered them to unhook the tow line and let the wreck sink. But knowing that the PPDC needed everything they could salvage of these two Jaegers overcame any squeamishness.

With a reluctant sigh he made his way forward, moving quickly but carefully to avoid slipping on the rain-slicked deck. The crewmen parted to let him pass, and the man who'd hooked the tow line hopped down from the railing to make room for him. Grabbing the railing in both callused hands, he hauled himself up to take a look in.

He flinched again, feeling his gorge rise. Two bodies floated in the water that still filled the cockpit, both badly burned and utterly still. Some small part of his brain that still maintained a grip on logic realized that these must be the Kaidanovskys, Cherno Alpha's pilots, while the rest of him wanted to turn around and be sick. Only the threat of utter embarrassment if his crew saw him throw up kept him from doing just that.

"I'm goin' in!" he shouted. "Someone get up here so I can hand off the bodies to you!"

The crew looked disgusted at the thought of having to handle dead bodies, but several crewmen stepped forward anyhow. Satisfied, Stone pulled himself over the railing and into the cockpit, landing in chest-deep water. His feet bumped against objects that must have been part of the Jaeger's controls, some stationary and others moving freely as if knocked loose in the destruction. He did his best to ignore them, and waded forward to grab the first body.

His hand closed on a slim wrist – no doubt Sasha's. He pulled the body closer and, purely out of habit, pressed his fingers to her neck. He doubted he was going to find any sign of life, given how thoroughly Cherno had been wrecked by those monsters…

Something fluttered against his fingers. Had he imagined it? No, there it was again.

"She's got a pulse!" He didn't stop to think, only hauled the body to the gaping hole in the cockpit where two crewmen waited to collect it. "Get her on the deck and perform CPR! And someone get on the horn with the Shatterdome and tell 'em we've got a survivor!"

"Yessir!" The men pulled her out, leaving Stone to slosh back through the cockpit to grab Aleksis. Immediately he felt for the man's pulse, wild hope gripping him for the first time since they'd set out for the site of the battle. If Sasha had survived, perhaps Aleksis…

"Sweet mother of God, he's alive," he murmured, and pulled the towering pilot to the other crewman who stepped up to collect him. "Start rescue breathing on him! Tell Shatterdome the Cherno Alpha Team survived!"

Scattered applause rose from the deck of the _WAP _at that announcement. Stone smiled grimly as he grabbed someone's hand and pulled himself out of the cockpit. At least that was one bright spot to this whole mess. The Kaidanovskys were alive, if in very bad shape. Today's battle had seemed a blow, proving that the Jaegers were not the invincible juggernauts many made them out to be… but having two Rangers survive despite the destruction of their mech served to soften that blow.

Back on the deck of his ship, Stone turned to regard the mangled cockpit of Cherno Alpha, and a sudden pit of apprehension opened in his stomach. If the Kaidanovskys recovered from this, then someone was going to have to explain to them what had happened to their Jaeger. And just like he knew it would kill him if anything happened to the _WAP, _he had a feeling that learning Cherno had been destroyed by the Kaiju would cut its pilots to the core.


	2. Chapter 2

_It was like walking into a myth, stepping out of the physical world and into a living legend._

_A hush fell over the prospective pilots as they filed into the hangar, ready for their first sight of the ultimate prize. No one dared so much as whisper as they gaped at the titan before them, a towering juggernaut of titanium and steel that gleamed silver-green in the hangar lights. Over eighty meters tall, broadly built and thickly armored, it seemed to radiate an aura of sheer power that threatened to overwhelm all who looked at it. And more than one rookie swore they could feel the giant looking back at them, leveling its own iron gaze upon them and passing its own judgment on whether they were qualified to serve as its pilot._

_Aleksis Kaidonovsky couldn't suppress an excited grin. It was beautiful – far more beautiful than he had ever imagined. The photographs and film footage he had seen of its construction hadn't done it justice. This was more than a mere machine – it was a physical god, a slayer of the demons from the abyss._

"_Cherno Alpha," the commander of the Vladivostok Shatterdome announced, nodding forward at the enormous mecha. "The most advanced Jaeger constructed to date… and our last hope for defending our homeland."_

_An appreciative murmur passed through the gathered candidates. _

"_Twenty of you have been selected for this program," he went on. "The best of the best chosen to participate in the coming trials to determine Cherno Alpha's pilots. Only two of you shall make the cut to be Rangers."_

"_He states the obvious," muttered someone directly behind Aleksis, and he turned to find a young blond woman raising a sardonic eyebrow at the commander._

"_Obvious or not, it's truth," Aleksis countered softly. "I just hope to be one of the two."_

_She smirked. "Simply hoping doesn't get you anywhere. You have to act, not just hope."_

"_Lieutenant Kaidonovsky, Lieutenant Pevtsov!" the commander barked. "Do either of you want a demerit for speaking out of turn?"_

_The woman stood stiffly at attention and raised her chin. "No, sir!"_

"_No sir!" Aleksis echoed._

"_Then remain silent during the briefing!" He kept his stern gaze on them a moment longer before looking away. "Report to the barracks. In the morning, the tests begin… and we shall separate the dross from the gold, and determine who is best suited to defend our coasts from this Kaiju menace." He nodded sharply. "Dismissed!"_

_Most of the candidates dispersed immediately, talking amongst themselves. A few remained behind to stare at Cherno Alpha a little longer, their eyes shining with awe and desire. Aleksis was among them, leaning on the railing and gazing upon the Jaeger with an eager smile. So close… he had come so far in so short a time, working feverishly to increase his standing in the army and trying to catch the attention of his commanding officer, in the hopes of being selected for this exclusive program. He was almost there, and he was secretly terrified that he would have his hopes snatched away at any moment, so close to securing his goal of being a Ranger._

_Movement to his left caught his eye, and he turned to see the blond woman joining him in his study of the titan, a covetous gleam in her eye. He noted with interest that she was surprisingly tall for a woman – still shorter than him, but then, he had always been the giant of his family…_

"_Beautiful, isn't she?" Aleksis noted._

_She chuckled. "He. He is beautiful. He looks rather masculine, don't you think?"_

_He frowned. "I always thought of them as being like boats – don't captains call their ships female?"_

"_A Jaeger is not a boat," she pointed out with a laugh. "Each has their own distinct look, and some are suited to be female… but not this one."_

_He shrugged. "If you say so. You seem to know a lot about the Jaegers."_

"_My uncle worked at the assembly yard where Brawler Yukon and Romeo Blue were constructed," she replied. "He was not directly involved in building the actual Jaeger, but he learned a lot from the builders." She folded her arms on the railing and rested her chin on them, eyes shining. "I'd love nothing better than to be a Ranger. The Jaegers have always fascinated me, and this is my chance to finally get close to them."_

"_Well… good luck to you." He extended his hand. "Lieutenant Aleksis Kaidonovsky."_

_She took his hand, her grip surprisingly firm. "Lieutenant Sasha Pevtsov. My pleasure. And good luck to you as well, Aleksis. May the best candidate win."_

* * *

Pain… searing, shattering pain that obliterated all thought, all memory… it was as if the entire world were composed only of the burning pain, throbbing and pulsing with every heartbeat…

_Are you there? Can you hear me?_

A voice… but not a physical one. The agony seemed to swamp all the senses – vision, hearing, even smell and taste. It beckoned and called, but it was so much effort to respond…

_Answer me! Please! Talk to me! Can you hear me?_

Blackness slid closer, smothering the pain, offering comfort in the form of the void. It was so tempting to give in, to let the darkness overwhelm all else… to finally be able to rest…

_Don't leave me! Don't go! Please, stay… I need you…_

That voice… it seemed so familiar… someone beloved, someone closer than life itself… someone who was worth more than freedom from the pain. Reaching out to it took so much effort, though… and the darkness beckoned more than ever, offering relief, offering peace…

_Don't go! Please don't go! I'm scared… I need you with me, I'm so scared…_

The fear and longing in that voice cut into the heart. No… it wasn't time to leave… not today. The blackness might offer relief, but it was a relief that meant death. If staying behind meant pain… then so be it.

It took every ounce of strength to fight the encroaching blackness, and it seemed reluctant to give up its prize… but at last it receded, ready to bide its time for another day. Pain returned with a vengeance… but with it a burst of relief and even joy…

Aleksis opened his eyes, wincing. The light was far too bright here – it felt as if someone had thrust knives into his eyes. He blinked furiously, squinting against the brightness, and tried to raise his hand to shield his vision. That movement sent every muscle and nerve in his arm screaming in pain, and he lowered the limb with a grimace.

He must have cried out, or perhaps someone had been watching him while he moved, because there was suddenly a presence at his side – a short, balding, white-coated doctor who rested a careful hand on his shoulder.

"He's awake!" the doctor barked, too loudly for Aleksis' tastes. "Hold still, sir… don't move too much if you can help it. You're still healing, and we don't want you to tear the skin grafts."

He blinked up at the man, baffled. Skin grafts… what was he blathering on about? "What…"

"Just relax, sir. You're in good hands." The doctor smiled, an expression that didn't do a whole lot to mask the tension in his face. "I won't lie, it was rather touch and go for you for awhile, but if you've made it this far, you're going to be okay."

A soft moan drifted from the bed on his right, and he turned his head to investigate. He paid for that movement with fire snaking up his neck and jaw, but what he saw made him forget the pain – Sasha lying in the bed a short distance away, scars marring her proud features, her blond hair shaved down to a light layer of fuzz. She was so utterly still that had it not been for her earlier sound of pain or the monitors hooked to her body, Aleksis might have mistaken her for dead. As it was, he felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach – his wife, badly hurt, possibly dying…

"She's waking up!" the doctor shouted again, the exclamation aimed at someone outside Aleksis' field of vision. "Let's get another physician in here, stat!"

"S-Sasha…" Aleksis groaned, trying to sit up. His nerves seemed to burst with pain, but he struggled for a good minute before finally lying back, exhausted. How did he get so weak so quickly? "My Sasha…"

"She'll be all right," the doctor assured him. "The two of you have been in medically induced comas for the past five weeks. You were very severely injured during the battle at Hong Kong."

The battle… the Double Event! Memory returned with such force he gasped for breath. Two Kaiju had threatened the city, and they had gone out with Crimson Typhoon to face them. Crimson had gone down, and the last thing he remembered was water flooding Cherno's cockpit, and a horrible face leering down at them, its reptilian eyes seeming to glow with triumph at having bested not one, but two Jaegers…

"You'll need to stay here awhile longer," the doctor went on. "We need to make sure infection doesn't set in, and you'll need physical therapy to regain your strength after so long under sedation. But if you've come this far, I don't see any reason why you can't be out of here in less than a month."

"Don't have a month," Aleksis insisted, trying to push himself upright again. He managed to raise his head from the pillow, and figured that would have to do for now. "We have a mission…"

The doctor stared at him, frowning in confusion. Belatedly Aleksis wondered if he'd said too much. News of the planned strike on the Breach wasn't supposed to leave the Shatterdome, and if this wasn't one of the Shatterdome's physicians…

"Sir… the Breach was closed five weeks ago," he replied slowly. "The Kaiju War is over. Over for good."

Over… it took a minute for that news to sink in. The strike on the Breach had already taken place, without his or Sasha's involvement. There would be no more Kaiju, no more PPDC, no more need for Jaegers or the Wall or anything else. They had staved off the apocalypse and saved the world.

He supposed he should feel either triumph that Pentecost's plan had been a success, or disappointment that he and Sasha had been unable to play a part in it. But to his surprise he felt… empty. As if the news meant nothing to him, was only a curious bit of trivia instead of the world-changing event it should have been. Perhaps it was because he had to receive the news secondhand instead of taking part in the final battle himself, or perhaps it was simply because, in light of his injuries, so little else mattered…

Or perhaps it was something else, a worry that gnawed at him and wouldn't let him think of anything else until he had put it to rest. This doctor might think it trivial compared to all else… but he had to know.

"Cherno," he murmured. "What about Cherno? Is he… is it badly damaged?"

The doctor bit his lip, seemingly debating whether it was worth telling his patient the truth or not. In the end, he opted for honesty.

"Your… superiors… left a message for you, sir, in the event that you woke up and we judged you in good enough condition to know." He looked down at his feet. "They said to inform you that they're sorry, but your Jaeger was damaged beyond repair."

* * *

Tendo Choi, Commander of the Hong Kong Shatterdome in the absence of Marshal Pentecost, had to resist the urge to rub his temples as he faced down the wall of screens depicting the various representatives of the United Nations. How Pentecost had been able to deal with these people on a regular basis without suffering an aneurysm was anyone's guess.

"I tell you, we need more funding," he said as calmly as he could manage. "Simply because the Breach is closed now doesn't mean it can't be opened again, or that the Precursors won't just open another somewhere else. We have to be prepared…"

"We are preparing," the UK delegate replied in a matter-of-fact tone, as if Tendo should know this by now. "And we feel the best way to defend humanity from another attack is to extend the Wall of Life project to cover all populated coastal areas, not just those bordering the Pacific."

"The Anti-Kaiju Wall is ineffective," Tendo protested. "Mutavore's attack on Syndey proved that. Our best hope for another attack is to bolster the Jaeger program."

"The Jaegers were falling right and left at the end of the war," the Chilean delegate retorted, scowling. "The public had lost faith that the Jaegers could protect them-"

"And they have any more faith in the Wall?" Tendo asked with an arched eyebrow. "Or has the UN forgotten about the Sydney attack and the ensuing riots already?"

"The Wall WILL work," the American delegate insisted. "It simply needs redesigned, with better reinforcement and perhaps anti-Kaiju missile-launchers placed at strategic locations."

"And if even that fails, what then?" Tendo countered. "What will you do if a Kaiju breaches your new and improved wall, somewhere too far away for us to fly our single Jaeger to in a timely manner?"

"We will deal with that as the time comes," the Canadian representative replied. "But the new and improved wall WILL work. We have faith in the Wall of Life program, and we suggest you put your trust in it, Mr. Choi."

Tendo stifled a groan, feeling the beginnings of a migraine brewing behind his eyes. Despite their victory over a month ago, the governments of the world were all too willing to dismiss the success of the Jaeger program, sweeping it under the rug in favor of focusing on rebuilding and maintaining their precious coastal wall. Never mind that the wall had proven to be a dismal failure, and that it would cost far more to complete such a structure than to continue funding the Jaeger program – they chose to focus on playing defense, on pouring all their funds into a virtual black hole.

Hercules had his own theory on why so much focus was being put on the Wall, and Tendo had to admit that it made sense – not that it made him feel any better. The PPDC and governments had been responsible for the development of the Jaegers in the first place, and had wanted some sort of recognition for the program that had ultimately saved the world. But the public chose instead to lavish attention on the Rangers, and in many cases on the Jaegers themselves despite them being mindless machines. If the government could undermine and discredit the Jaeger program, and promote the Wall as a more viable alternative, they could make themselves the heroes instead.

That left a sour taste in Tendo's mouth. This war should be about protecting humanity, not about who got the glory in the aftermath.

"Our decision is final, Mr. Choi," the UK delegate said in conclusion. "We will provide you with enough funding to build one new Jaeger, and to restore one of the retired Jaegers to full functionality. They will be kept on standby in case any new Kaiju attacks are reported, until the Wall is completed."

Tendo forced himself to maintain a bland expression and gave a stiff bow. He held his expression until the last screen had blanked out, then blew out a frustrated sigh.

"Damn fools," Herc muttered from his vantage point in the corner of the briefing room. "Gonna get us all killed just to make a point."

Tendo sighed again and turned away from the vacant screens. "There's very little we can do, though. Except take what aid they give us and secure whatever else we need through Pentecost's black-market channels. And hope that's enough."

Herc snorted. "Won't be enough. Damnit, good men and women died saving their hides and they spit on their memories like this…"

"Hansen," Tendo said softly, "there's nothing more we can do. They've made their decision, and we can either stand here complaining about it, or we can do the smart thing – mourn and honor our dead, pick up, and move on."

Herc scowled at that, but Tendo could read the sadness underlying his current anger. Despite their constant bickering and Chuck's hotheadedness, Hercules had been close to his son. Like many Jaeger pilots, they had shared a strong bond that went beyond mere teammates or even family. And though Chuck had died a hero, sacrificing himself and Striker Eureka to clear the way for Raleigh to close the Breach, Herc was still reeling from losing the last of his family to the Kaiju War.

Tendo closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, hoping the budding migraine would fade on its own. So much had been lost over the course of this war. So many Rangers had died against the Kaiju, and millions had perished in attacks around the world. There were few lives among the population of the Pacific Rim who hadn't somehow been affected by the war, whether by direct loss or simply the side effects of a prolonged war. Even Tendo hadn't escaped unscathed – he still clearly remembered Trespasser's attack, trying to evacuate as many as he could aboard a ferry, having to watch his grandfather slowly succumb to the effects of Kaiju Blue…

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Lingering on the past did no good. Thanks to the closing of the Breach, they had a future to focus on now.

"Any messages?" he asked.

Herc shrugged. "Ain't your secretary."

"'I don't know' works as an answer too, Hansen," Tendo noted dryly.

"There's somethin'," Herc amended. "Message from the hospital in Hong Kong. The Kaidonovskys are awake."

Tendo blinked, surprised but not altogether disappointed at the news. When Cherno Alpha had been obliterated by Otachi and Leatherback, everyone had given its pilots up for dead. It had come as a welcome relief when a salvage crew had reported back that Aleksis and Sasha had survived the battle, albeit half-drowned and severely injured. But when weeks had gone by without any word that the two had recovered from their injuries or even awakened from their comas, the crew of the Shatterdome had gradually given up hope.

Knowing that two of the best Rangers in the PPDC program had not only survived, but made progress in their recovery, was the best news he'd heard in a long time. Now he only hoped the Wei Tang triplets could make a similar recovery. The three had been recovered from Crimson Typhoon's cockpit shortly after the Kaidonovskys had been found, but two had suffered severe head trauma and remained in comas. Though an MRI had shown that the third brother's injuries were relatively minor, he, too, had yet to awaken. The doctors were baffled by this, though privately Tendo was convinced that the bond between the Weis was so strong that the condition of one brother could adversely affect the condition of the others.

"That's good news," was all he said aloud. "Anything else on their conditions?"

"Sasha's walkin' some, though the doctors want her usin' a wheelchair for the next little while. Aleksis' still bedridden – leg infection – but he's rarin' to get up and get his strength back." Herc's mouth quirked in a fraction of a smile. "Gotta admire that kinda spunk."

"Not a lot keeps those two down," Tendo admitted. "Anything on the Weis?"

"Nothin'. Same condition as always."

Well, they couldn't expect five miracle recoveries in one day, Tendo supposed. "Anything else?"

Herc shook his head. "Just a word from the Kaidonovskys. They're wantin' to come back and see what's left of Cherno one last time."

Tendo frowned. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Herc eyed the man critically. "An' why not?"

"Cherno is… not like how they remember," Tendo replied diplomatically. "It was quite literally taken apart in the battle, and it might be rather shocking for them to see it in this state."

Herc just gave Tendo a long look of the sort he had once given Chuck when the younger pilot had done something particularly bone-headed. "You don't understand, Tendo."

"Try me," Tendo countered.

Herc looked skeptical, but nodded and continued. "A man gets in the cockpit of a Jaeger the first time, he thinks he's the boss of it, that it's just a weapon he uses to go kick Kaiju ass. But sooner or later, 'less he's an idiot, he learns you don't control a Jaeger – not the same way you control a jet or a tank. It's more like ridin' a horse – a partnership, if you will. You learn its habits, how it moves an' handles, what spooks it an' what it can do under pressure. It's a give an' take, an' just like a rider who don't learn that right away gets thrown, a pilot who don't learn that right away is liable to get his ass handed to him the first time he takes that thing into battle."

Tendo frowned. "Are you saying the Jaegers are alive?"

"Not in the same way you an' I are. Or like Max here." He nodded down at the bulldog, who was sprawled beneath a chair at the moment. "But it's the same basic thing. You're not just driftin' with your co-pilot, workin' with them – you're workin' with the machine, too. You come to see it as a member of your team, same as your co-pilot. An' maybe losin' your Jaeger isn't as traumatic as losin' your co-pilot… but it's mighty hard, hard as havin' to put down a good dog or horse. Maybe harder, since you've shed blood, sweat, and tears in your Jaeger, an' been through Hell with it.

"I dunno if that makes any sense to you, Tendo… but a Ranger, they understand. Ask Beckett sometime about Gipsy, an' Mori too." He reached up to scrub at his face with one hand. "An' as much as I miss my boy an' want him back… there's part of me that wishes I could see Striker too… just one last time."

Tendo mulled that over, then nodded slowly. What Herc said made total sense to him. He'd heard of Air Force pilots developing similar bonds with their planes, even taking to naming them and giving them their own distinct personalities. And while it was rare for a Ranger to survive the destruction of their Jaeger, it had happened… and said pilots were often left shell-shocked enough by the loss that they almost never got into the cockpit of another Jaeger after that. Pentecost was the only one in recent memory… but that had been extraordinary circumstances.

"We'll hold off on dismantling Cherno Alpha until the Kaidonovskys are well enough to travel," Tendo replied. "We can let them have one last look."

Herc seemed to relax a notch at that. "What's gonna be done with it?"

"There's a museum in Sydney that's going to be adding an extensive wing on the history of the Jaeger program, and they've expressed interest in displaying Cherno. They're offering a good price for it, too, which will help us with rebuilding Crimson Typhoon and finishing the Mustang Omega project."

Herc screwed up his face in disgust. "Aw, hell no!"

Tendo cocked his head. "Don't like the idea of a Jaeger on display? Or do you think we're restoring the wrong Jaeger? Crimson would be a lot easier to repair than Cherno…"

"Don't tell me we're going forward with that stupid Mark VI project!"

"Hansen, I know Striker Eureka was your Jaeger and you're rightly proud of it. But there's been promising new technology developed since then, and we'd be stupid not to incorporate it in the new Jaeger."

"It's not that I think it's gonna outshine Striker," Herc retorted. "It's that I think Mustang's gonna be a waste of good resources. Why not use the funds to restore Cherno or remake Gipsy or Eureka – or hell, even Coyote – instead of dumping them on something that's gonna be as much a bust as that buggin' Wall?"

"The decision's already been made, Hansen," Tendo told him. "If that's all, then let's get back to work. We've got a lot to do."

Herc grumbled under his breath as he walked out, whistling for Max to follow. Tendo gathered up his papers and tablet before heading out after him. Add cleaning up Cherno and making it presentable for company to their ever-growing list of things to do – it wouldn't make the Mark I look factory-fresh, but it would at least make it look less ghastly for its former pilots.


	3. Chapter 3

_Despite countless sessions in the simulation room, Sasha never felt quite comfortable in the Drifting gear. The Pons headset felt like a cold hand clutching her scalp, and the armor seemed a size too tight despite being specifically designed for her body type. She shifted against the clamps holding her feet down and flexed her fingers, trying to grow accustomed to both armor and harness. Was one's first Drift always this nerve-wracking?_

_She glanced over at Aleksis, who was being strapped into the harness next to hers. His expression was purely businesslike as he lowered his head to accept the headset and helmet, but his hands were trembling slightly. Somehow that helped her relax a little. If even the normally stone-faced fellow Ranger was anxious about the upcoming Drift, then she wasn't alone._

_It had come as no surprise to either her or Aleksis that the rigorous testing had proven them to be a fit match for the Drift, despite the trainers and officers being rather shocked at how compatible they had proven to be. The American and Asian Jaeger programs mostly relied on pilots with some sort of close family relation, such as siblings or close cousins. The assumption in these cases was that, since close bonds already existed between them, they were more likely to synchronize within the Drift and less likely to chase the RABIT or fall out of synch during the neural handshake._

_The Russian program hadn't felt it necessary to abide strictly by those guidelines, but they had expected the pilots of Cherno Alpha to at least be a set of longtime friends. Aleksis and Sasha had met for the first time when they joined the program, so for them to show so many signs of excellent compatibility had been shocking for the trainers._

_Sasha straightened slightly as a technician fit the spinal clamp into her armor, a slight smile on her face as she thought back on the past few weeks. Despite having just met Aleksis upon beginning her training, somehow she felt comfortable around him, as if they had known each other since childhood. They had shared small talk at meals, talking about their lives before joining the military and their shared hopes of being accepted as Rangers, and had exchanged playful banter during sparring matches and while waiting for their turns in the simulation room. Meeting him hadn't been like being introduced to a stranger, but rather like being reunited with an old friend she hadn't seen in years._

_To be honest, she would have been more surprised if she _hadn't _been compatible with him. Despite having sparred with dozens of other potential candidates, none of them had fallen into the same rhythm during a match, moved in synch with her. And yet when she and Aleksis had crossed sparring rods, it was as if they had each followed the same innate choreography, partners in a dance rather than opponents in a ring._

"_Ready?" the tech asked her, holding the gel-lined helmet up._

Ready as I'll ever be, _she thought, but only nodded to the tech and ducked to accept the helmet. The gel drained out of the visor as it snapped in place, leaving her with a clear view out of Cherno Alpha's cockpit. A line of technicians, scientists, and officers stared back from the catwalk that came chest-high to the towering Jaeger, each with the same baleful look on their face. Did they expect them to fail? Were they just waiting for one of the two to latch onto a wayward memory and lock the two of them into it, that they might expel the two from the program?_

_She allowed herself a smirk. Not today. If they were expecting a failure, they were in for a pleasant surprise. _

"_All right, let's do this," Aleksis noted, and he lifted his chin and shut his eyes. Sasha mirrored his pose, tilting her face toward the cockpit ceiling and closing her eyes. Don't think, she told herself. Let it happen… _

"_INITIATING NEURAL HANDSHAKE," a computerized voice droned._

_Something prickled at the back of her brain and up and down her spine, like a thousand ants had suddenly crawled into her suit and helmet. She fought the urge to squirm and tried to keep her mind clear, to empty herself and be read for the synching. The prickle became a strange pressure, unpleasant but not painful, as if something were trying to worm its way into her skull… faint lights began to flash beneath her eyelids… sounds echoed in her ears, oddly faint and hollow as if they had to reach her through a tunnel…_

_Then the memories began. First a mere trickle, like the first sprinkling of rain – the sound of her mother's laughter, the smell of her grandmother's bread fresh from the oven, a flash of green from the coat she always wore as a child…_

_Then the memories became more substantial, not just flickers of sensation, but full-fledged scenes – running through the snow with her brothers, pinning the school bully down and giving him a sound thrashing, sitting at her great-uncle's knee and hearing him recite the old folk tales…_

_No… that last memory wasn't hers. She remembered no great-uncle. It took her a moment to recognize the memory as Aleksis'… yet it felt as close and familiar as if it were her own._

_The trickle of memory became a rush, as if someone had turned on a faucet. She relived scenes from Aleksis' life as if they were her own, intermixed with scenes from her own life – a flash of pain from breaking his leg as a child, the less physical but no less intense pain of her mother's death from a car accident, working alongside his father on his fishing boat through the pouring rain, watching her grandmother patch a hole in her favorite coat…_

_A horrific scream, and a sudden jolt rocked her as surely as if Cherno had been struck from without by a titanic fist. The flood of memory ground to a sudden halt, leaving her frozen within one scene in particular. It was like she was in two places at once – part of her retained enough sense to know she was still inside Cherno, still fastened into the neural interface gear; and yet she was also standing on the deck of a ship, struggling to keep her balance in the suddenly choppy seas, rain intermixed with snow pelting down all around._

_Beside her, Aleksis struggled with tying something down on the deck… but this was an Aleksis she'd never seen before. He was a few years younger, beardless, wearing a ragged raincoat and thick work gloves. Another young man, shorter and even younger-looking, worked alongside him, the two shouting orders at each other over the driving rain and roar of the sea. Instinctively she knew this had to be Aleksis' younger brother Dmitri, though how she knew this she couldn't say… he had spoken only rarely about him, and never shown her a picture…_

_There was a shout from elsewhere on the ship, and a massive wave swamped the deck, though it seemed to pass over her harmlessly as mist. The two men weren't so lucky – the wave buried them under icy water, muffling their cries of shock. A stab of emotion pierced her – terror, dread, the pain of cold salt water hitting her lungs…_

_When the wave receded, leaving the deck a slick mess, only one man was left – Aleksis, clinging to the railing for dear life. Of Dmitri there was no sign… and while she should have felt relief that Aleksis was alive, all she could feel was his horror._

_With a cry of despair Aleksis made to dive off the railing and into the violent waters, but hands grabbed his arms, holding him in place. He flailed, cursing and screaming, desperate to break free and save his brother… he had to save him, he couldn't just let him drown…_

_Sasha struggled to stem the flood of emotions coursing through her end of the Drift, and reached out to the struggling young man. She had to reach him, and fast. He was latched onto the memory of his brother's death, compromising the Drift. If she couldn't shake him out of it quickly, the neural interface would fail._

"_Aleksis!" she shouted. "It's only a memory!"_

_He didn't seem to hear her, still thrashing in his companions' grips. He cursed and howled, begging them to let him go after his brother, despite the fact that his body was no longer even visible amid the waves. It all felt so real… she could barely sense the cockpit around her anymore, and it seemed as if this horrible moment was the present and Cherno the faint memory…_

"_Aleksis, come back!" she urged him. "It's a memory, nothing more… it's the past. You can break free of it…"_

_Aleksis continued to struggle, but his eyes locked onto hers. For a split second recognition flashed in his eyes, and a single thought seemed to pass between them – _Help me.

"_I'm here," she vowed, and reached forward. "We're in this together. I promise."_

_Her hand touched his arm… and with a jolt they were thrown out of the memory and into a realm of cool blue light. For an instant that seemed an eternity nothing seemed to exist but the two of them, their thoughts and dreams, their pasts and fears. She was completely open to him, and he to her, their minds and hearts laid bare to one another._

_That should have been terrifying… and yet it wasn't._

_Aleksis knew her mind and heart in that moment, and she resisted the urge to pull away. But there was no disappointment or disgust from him – rather, a rush of his pride filled the Drift, pride that he had such a strong partner to fight alongside. She, too, saw everything he was and had ever been, and she found it to be perfect. They would fight together, the perfect team, and any Kaiju who had the misfortune to chance upon the Russian shores would tremble in fear._

_There was a brief touch of… something… just as they returned to the physical world, a sense of something sparking to life. But it was gone before either of them could make sense of it. Now they simply reeled in place as sight and sensation returned, landing both of them back in Cherno's cockpit. The monotone of the AI system rang through the room, completely oblivious to what had transpired between the two Rangers._

"_SYNCHRONIZATION SUCCESSFUL. NEURAL HANDSHAKE ACHIEVED."_

_Applause broke out from the catwalk, and several technicians seemed to slump in relief. Sasha realized she had her hand outstretched toward Aleksis, and likewise Cherno's left arm was extended, responding to its Ranger's movements already. She lowered the limb, and Cherno's arm sank to its side._

_Aleksis took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily. "That… was close…"_

"_You broke free of the RABIT, and that's what's important," Sasha assured him. "I… I'm sorry about your brother."_

_His face remained expressionless, but she caught the remembered pain and regret through the Drift. "It's something I must live with."_

"_WE will live with it," she vowed. "We're partners now." It was a daunting prospect, sharing so much with another person and helping to carry their burdens as well as her own. But somehow she felt it would be worth it._

_Aleksis abruptly grinned at her. "Marry me."_

_She blinked, startled, then chuckled. "So soon?"_

"_We've already shared more than most couples ever will in their lifetimes," he reminded her. "We belong together, in every sense of the word. And Cherno needs a united team to guide him, does he not? Parents, you might say."_

_Well, when he put it that way… "I didn't join the Defense Corps intending on starting a family… but it seems I found one anyhow."_

* * *

Sasha shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. She found herself spacing off more often now, her mind returning to the past. Had her Kaiju-inflicted injuries affected her memory? Or was she just tired?

She turned her head to gaze out the window of the cab, watching the garish lights of Hong Kong pass by. Despite the Double Event that had passed through this city less than two months ago, the citizens continued life as if nothing had changed. The only signs of Otachi and Leatherback's passing were a few gaping holes that remained in some of the buildings, and an oil tanker that remained lodged between two buildings like a bizarre archway. That street had been blocked off until city officials could decide how to safely remove the wayward ship, but that wasn't stopping tourists from sneaking through the blockades and posing beneath it for pictures.

It was still so hard to believe the war was over, though, that damages like this would soon be a thing of the past. She should have felt relief or joy at that, but instead she felt stunned and empty. She and Aleksis had expected to be there to see the end of the war themselves, to give Cherno Alpha's aid to the final strike against the Breach. To wake up and find the war had ended without them seemed a rather bitter blow.

And knowing their beloved Jaeger had been virtually destroyed seemed only to add insult to injury. Were Otachi and Leatherback not already dead, she would have hunted them down and attacked them with her own bare hands for that.

A hand rested on hers, and she turned to find Aleksis giving her a comforting smile. The towering Ranger seemed a shadow of his former self – he had lost a considerable amount of weight, and his face was gaunt and scarred, his beard shaved off so the surgeons could treat his facial burns better. But there was still that familiar glint to his eyes, one she recognized all too well. He was determined to keep the two of them going, despite anything the doctors or PPDC tried to tell them.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She sighed. "I'm not in pain, if that's what you're asking."

"Liar," he murmured, his tone affectionate rather than accusing. "You're hurting – maybe not physically, but mentally. You miss him already, don't you?"

She blinked, trying to keep the tears back. "I just… want to see him one last time. I wish there was some way we could keep him with us. Keep them from scrapping him or sending him to Oblivion Bay."

"Where would we put him?" Aleksis asked, a slight teasing note to his voice, but his eyes were as sad as hers. "He doesn't belong in a junkyard. He was the greatest of the Jaegers… and they're going to treat him as if he were garbage."

She rested her hand on his arm and squeezed gently. Of course they wouldn't understand – the technicians and officers in charge of the Jaeger program would never understand, not on the same level as the Rangers did. Only those who had fought inside the metallic titans knew how deep the bond was between pilot and Jaeger, how much they considered their mech to be an extension of themselves, a partner rather than a vehicle. Only a Ranger understood how it felt to see your Jaeger damaged in battle, or look on in worry as mechanics repaired or upgraded an important system.

And only a Ranger knew how it felt to have one's Jaeger torn away from them, whether by reassignment or destruction.

"At least we get a chance to see him again," she pointed out. "To say goodbye."

Aleksis frowned, as if this consolation wasn't enough for him.

"Aleksis… love… he'll always be with us. So long as we don't forget him, he's not wholly gone."

His frown faded, but he still seemed troubled. She scooted away from the cab's window and leaned against him, hoping to distract him some from his thoughts. He absently raised his arm to drape around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said at last. "For saving me."

He frowned again. "I couldn't save you… I blacked out too quickly."

She shook her head. "I felt you calling for me in the Drift, back at the hospital. I was about to give up, to just stop living… but you pulled me back. I can never thank you enough for that."

Aleksis screwed up his brow in confusion. "That wasn't me."

"It had to have been you…"

"I felt _you _calling for me," he countered. "You were the one reaching for me, pulling me back. You saved me." A smile finally broke through his features. "It seems a common theme, you drawing me out of death or a painful memory."

It was her turn to frown now. Someone had definitely been calling for her, reaching out through the Drift to draw her back from the edge of death. If it hadn't been Aleksis… then who?

* * *

Deep within the Shatterdome base, two members of the PPDC's civilian personnel were making their way down the hall toward the main Jaeger hangar, one limping and leaning on a cane, the other slowing his pace to keep up with his partner… and both snapping at each other.

"I don't care if you think that grotesque little parasite is cute, Newton, you have GOT to keep it under control!"

"You don't mean that, Hermann! Not to this little guy… he didn't mean that, sweetie, he's just jealous…"

"Why would I be jealous that you're carrying around a public menace?"

"Because I'm the only scientist who's been able to keep one of these little guys alive away from a Kaiju host, and you're jealous of me."

"Oh, I am _not! _Why you think I'd be jealous that you're parading around the Shatterdome with a Kaiju skin mite…"

"He's got a name, Hermann."

"I am _not _dignifying that… thing with a name! And so help me, if you don't housetrain it or keep it from chewing my computer cables-"

"I'm working on it, all right? We're just working on finding a good material for the litterbox that doesn't dissolve on contact. And he's got chew toys, I'm getting that part handled."

"Honestly, only you would think a disgusting Kaiju skin parasite is adorable enough to keep as a pet. That thing is disgusting and dangerous!"

Newton made a face at the engineer and cuddled the skin mite close. "Don't listen to the meanie-weenie, Spike! You're adorable and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Spike" gave a gurgling chirrup and waved its segmented legs wildly, as if trying to squirm out of his grip.

"If you have to keep that thing around, you could at least leave it in a cage," Hermann grumbled as they passed through the door leading to the main Jaeger hangar. "There is absolutely NO reason why you have to drag it to this very important meeting."

"How else am I gonna get him used to people?" Newt demanded. "He'll be fine."

Hermann rolled his eyes and made his way deeper into the hangar as fast as his bad leg would allow. The hangar was abuzz with activity, mechanics and technicians dashing back and forth on important errands, and two of the main bays positively swarmed with workers like overgrown beehives. In one hangar a crane was lowering Crimson Typhoon's freshly repaired cockpit onto its shoulders, a worker calling out directions to the crane operator and mechanics waiting for the massive "head" to be settled into place so they could go about reattaching it. In another, a skeletal framework stood supported by scaffolding, the heavy machinery being used to assemble it blocking much of it from view. The smell of oil and ozone and hot metal filled the hangar, and the rumble of engines and the crackle of welders overlaid the constant chatter of the workers.

Both scientists hurried past two other bays with their gazes fixed straight ahead, not daring to look inside. One bay was conspicuously empty, with only a wreath of flowers and a handmade sign reading "Thank You Gipsy Danger" marking the identity of its previous occupant. The other was occupied… but even those who thought of the Jaegers as just another machine couldn't look long at the ghastly sight of Cherno Alpha, slumped back against the wall of its bay like a drunken man, mangled and ruined and with one of its arms laying across its lap. The only worker attending the decommissioned Mark I was a grubby mechanic who hosed off one of its legs with a pressure washer, a token effort at making the Jaeger a little more presentable.

"Ugh, I wish they'd haul it out already," Newt said with a shudder. "It's creepy."

"The Sydney museum will come to collect it soon enough," Hermann reminded him. "And hopefully do a better job at making it suitable for public display. But we've got other priorities."

"I don't see why I'm needed for this," Newt pointed out, following Hermann to the hangar where the new Jaeger was being assembled. "What's a Kaiju biologist gonna do to help build a new Jaeger?"

"Oh, will you stop your moaning," Hermann grumbled as he moved to join the rest of the group. Raleigh Becket spotted the two scientists and moved a bit to the side to give them room, offering a friendly smile.

"Nice to see you two come out of hiding," he noted with a grin.

"Hello, Dr. Gottlieb," Mako Mori greeted, giving a polite bow and a smile.

Hermann nearly cracked a smile himself, and bowed slightly back. "Ms. Mori, Mr. Becket. And Mr. Hansen." He nodded at Herc, who grunted and shrugged. "Is this everyone?"

"Still waitin' on Choi," Herc replied. "An' keep that thing away from Max, Newt. If it bites 'im or gives 'im some kinda disease…"

"How come nobody trusts Spike?" Newt demanded. "He wouldn't hurt a fly!" He nuzzled the top of the skin mite's head, and it responded by twisting around and trying to snap at his chin.

"Because it's kind of hard to trust something that came off of a Kaiju," Raleigh reminded him. "Even if the Kaiju are gone, it's going to be a long time before anyone's okay with being reminded of what they did." He cast a meaningful glance at Mako.

"Oh… uh… sorry, Miss." Newt blushed and looked around, as if seeking a place to stow his pet.

"It's all right," she replied, and to everyone's surprise she reached over and stroked Spike's exoskeleton. "He is sort of cute… it's hard to believe he came from a Kaiju."

"See? Somebody here appreciates the little guy!" Newt beamed triumphantly at Hermann, who rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"For the love of…" groaned Herc.

"Show and tell's over, Dr. Geizler," Tendo cut in, walking up at that moment. "Thank you all for coming."

"Your memo sounded pretty terse," Raleigh told him. "Everything all right?"

Tendo looked about to answer that with a rant, but composed himself just in time and managed to look merely tired instead of supremely annoyed. "The short answer is not entirely. But the good news is that the UN is extending its funding to the Jaeger program."

Newt let go of Spike with one arm to pump his fist in the air and give a whoop of triumph.

"Not unlimited funding, mind you," Tendo told him. "Enough to rebuild one of our Jaegers and finish construction on the experimental Mark VI. Both these Jaegers will be kept on standby in the event of another Breach opening, and will protect the coastlines until the Wall of Life has been completed around every populated coastline."

"What?" Raleigh repeated. "That's a dead-end project! The Wall doesn't work and they know it! It's just a distraction from the bigger problem!"

"We all know that," Tendo replied. "But unfortunately, until the UN changes its mind, we have to be satisfied with what funding they give us." A faint smile crossed his lips. "That doesn't necessarily mean we can't secure funding from other sources, however."

"Please don't tell me Hannibal's a source," groaned Newt.

Tendo ignored him for now. "With any luck, we will have completed the Mark VI Jaeger, Mustang Omega, within the next six months. This will be a state-of-the-art machine with all the latest advancements in Jaeger technology, including digital systems with an analog backup, improved targeting systems and motor-response programs, and a specialized paint that's proven to be highly acid-resistant in tests."

Raleigh whistled. "You're not pulling out any stops on this. Just don't let the bells and whistles get in the way of what it's meant to do, all right?"

"We're taking that into full consideration," Tendo replied, walking up to a computer terminal and calling up a holo. "This is what Mustang Omega will look like when completed."

"Whoa," Raleigh breathed.

"Beautiful," Mako added, eyes shining.

Newt cocked his head first one way, then the other, as if trying to make sense of what he was seeing. "Uh… where's the head?"

"Cockpit, not head," Hermann corrected. "Use the correct terminology, will you?"

"Whatever it is, it's missing it," Newt pointed out. "Where're the pilots gonna work?"

The biologist did have a point. The holo of Mustang Omega glowed softly before the gathered pilots and scientists, jet-black with red trim and a sleek body that called to mind the compact but powerful frame of a runner or swimmer. Twin finlike crests sprouted from the tops of its shoulders and ran down it's spinal strut, ending at the small of its back, and thick panels were set in its chest, doubtless meant to slide aside to reveal internal weaponry. But just as Newt had noted, the head was missing – and there was no sign of a neck joint to indicate it ever had one.

"The bloody hell is this?" demanded Herc.

"One of the new advancements that's been integrated into the Mark VI program," Tendo replied. "Mustang Omega will be operated by an external piloting system, which will enable it to fight without placing pilots in unnecessary danger."

"Wait… so it's basically remote control?" asked Raleigh in disbelief. "You're not even going to use a Ranger for it?"

"Rangers will still operate it," Tendo corrected, "but will do so from the safety of a mobile piloting chamber, far away from the actual fighting. This way a Jaeger cannot be incapacitated by the destruction of a cockpit… and it won't risk the lives of the Rangers."

"But that defeats the entire purpose of the Jaeger program!" Raleigh protested. "If you can just control it remotely like a toy car or something, why didn't anyone do that before? This just seems like a weird gimmick if you ask me."

"This isn't just a gimmick," Hermann pointed out. "This could save lives! How many Rangers have we lost when their Jaegers have gone down? And the Kaiju learned that the fastest way to take a Jaeger out was to go for the cockpit – this will solve that."

"I am not against saving lives," Mako pointed out, "but I don't like this system. The Jaegers were effective because the pilots were just as much a part of them as any other system. We are the hearts and souls of the Jaegers… you take that out, and they are just another machine."

"My point exactly," Herc grumbled, looking halfway pleased that someone agreed with him. "The previous system worked, dammit. If it ain't broke, don't muck with it."

Tendo sighed. "I know you all liked the old way of doing things… but we have to be accepting of new developments as well. If an avenue exists that will allow us to defend our coastlines from Kaiju attacks without endangering lives, then we need to at least investigate it."

"Sounds like what the UN is saying about the wall," Herc muttered.

"That's enough, Hansen," Tendo informed him. "We're putting out a call for anyone who was enrolled in the Ranger program before it was disbanded to return to the training center. With any luck, we'll find suitable pilots for both Crimson and Mustang by the time they're online and ready. Now if anyone has any feedback regarding any of this – besides the external piloting system – feel free to share it."

The Rangers exchanged looks of varying degrees of uncertainty and irritation, but said nothing. Newt looked like he wanted to say something, but a glare from Hermann silenced him. The only sound was the faint chirring of the skin mite as it chewed holes in Newt's sleeve.

"Then you're all dismissed for now," Tendo said at last. "And fair warning – the Kaidanovskys will be by this evening. Don't bring this up to them – I'll brief them properly after they've seen Cherno."


	4. Chapter 4

"_Target sighted!"_

_The Kaidonovskys moved in perfect synch, raising their arms and bracing their legs in identical wrestler's stances. In response Cherno Alpha shifted beneath, above, and all around them, his immense frame thundering and humming as he adapted his pilots' pose. Rain intermixed with snow pelted his cockpit, and had it functioned like the windshield of an ordinary automobile it would have effectively rendered both pilots blind. But where the cockpit failed, the interior readouts and sensors more than compensated, providing them with a full visual scan of the raging ocean before them… and the enormous predator emerging from the whirling storm._

"_Cherno Alpha, you are to hold the miracle mile at all costs," the order came, crackling over a radio feed slightly blurred by the surrounding storm. "Category-3 Kaiju, codenamed Baba Yaga. Largest Kaiju yet."_

"_Good," Aleksis replied, smirking. "We've been wanting a challenge. Bannick was a pushover."_

"_Don't get cocky," the Shatterdome commander retorted. "Just hold the miracle mile until Eden Assassin gets there. Don't do anything foolish. Do you copy?"_

"_Isn't entering a Jaeger cockpit always something foolish?" Sasha quipped, but she followed that up anyway with a quick "Copy, Commander."_

_A deep thrum issued from Cherno's engines, and the two Rangers shared a look. The first few times their Jaeger had made unexpected noises during a battle, they had assumed he was malfunctioning somehow, even though maintenance scans hadn't shown any abnormalities. Now, though, they simply shared a smug grin._

"_He's eager to go, is he?" Aleksis asked._

"_You heard him," Sasha replied. "He doesn't want Eden to have all the fun." She turned to face the readouts and nodded. "Come, Cherno. Let's finish this. Eden can play cleanup if he wants."_

_Another thrum, and Cherno waded forward, moving to intercept Baba Yaga on its way to the coast. The mech's chassis fairly hummed around them, seeming to give off his own aura of anticipation, even excitement. He was still entirely responsive to their commands, yet they could almost feel him pulling at their control like a spirited horse straining at the reins, yearning to run even as its rider commanded it to trot._

_Neither Aleksis nor Sasha could identify the moment when they had begun seeing Cherno Alpha not as a mere object, but as a member of their team. Certainly they hadn't begun their partnership that way – in the beginning Cherno had merely been their weapon, their engine of destruction that they wielded in combat. Sure, the Jaeger had its quirks, but any piece of machinery did, and both had simply assumed that said quirks could be fixed by maintenance crews or worked around by trial and error._

_Somewhere along the line, though, they had come to learn otherwise. Gradually, they had come to know Cherno, his strengths and weaknesses, where his limits were and how far they could be pushed. And over time they had felt something far more than a personal connection whenever they were bound in the neural handshake – it was as if they were linked not only with each other, but with Cherno himself, a third entity in their bond. He was far more than a weapon or vehicle; he was their partner in battle, their ally and friend… and perhaps something even more…_

_A splitting roar made the air tremble all around the Jaeger, and both pilots drew Cherno to a halt. He stilled, every joint and cable and piston in his titanic body tensing in reaction as their foe closed in, rising from the churning waters like a demon from the depths of Hell itself. It delivered another earth-shattering roar, head flung skyward, blue light shining from its jaws. Then it lowered its head and glared hatefully at Cherno._

_It was hideous even by Kaiju standards, a mishmash of jumbled animal parts pieced together by a deranged god. Double sets of tiny, piggish eyes peered from the long sideswept head of a hammerhead shark, complete with a glowing crescent-shaped mouth lined with jagged teeth. Powerful arms flexed beneath its barrel-chested torso, each ending in three-fingered hands tipped with saber-like claws. Thickly muscled digitigrade legs, like those of a dinosaur, churned the seawaters with every step, and a thick mass of seething tentacles trailed after it in lieu of a tail. Hundreds of viciously barbed spikes sprouted from its back, giving it a strange hedgehog appearance, and glowing blue lines marked its sides like cryptic runes in an alien language._

"_Baba Yaga indeed," Aleksis snorted. "The witch. Fitting name."_

"_Shall we chase her back to her chicken-legged hut, then?" Sasha laughed._

"_Chase, hell." Aleksis cracked the knuckles of his left hand. "Let's ensure she never goes back to whatever hut she calls home."_

_Cherno raised both fists, slamming them together in a taunting gesture. Baba Yaga bellowed her rage and charged, head lowered like a bull, the blue-tipped spikes on her back raising like the hackles of a wolf. The Kaidonovskys braced themselves, and Cherno braced with them, watching the kaiju charge, silently calculating…_

_At the last possible second Cherno sprang out of the way, moving with stunning grace for his size. As Baba Yaga barreled by he brought both fists down on her head with a resounding CRACK, sending her sprawling into the ocean. She shrieked in rage, thrashing to get to her feet, tentacles flailing and swatting at Cherno's legs ineffectually._

_Aleksis cackled in delight. "Good lad! You got her good!"_

"_Don't get cocky," Sasha advised. "We don't celebrate until she's good and dead."_

"_Of course," Aleksis replied, but he grinned broadly all the same. "Come, Cherno, let's finish this hag!"_

_Cherno thrummed as if in response, and as Baba Yaga staggered to her feet, shaking her head dazedly, he raised a foot and delivered a kick to her side. The pilots could feel the impact of his steel boot against a fleshy side the size of a mountain, feel the crack of ribs snapping under the blow… and feel razor-sharp teeth clamp into Cherno's ankle as Baba Yaga retaliated, grabbing his foot and yanking hard. The Jaeger flailed as the Kaidonovskys tried to regain his balance, but he toppled anyhow, the ocean closing in over his cockpit and reactor tower._

_The Rangers cried out at the shared pain in Cherno's leg and at the sudden shock of the ice-cold sea hitting sensors and wiring. Baba Yaga snarled and shook Cherno's leg like a dog, thwarting their efforts to right the Jaeger. Sudden terror coursed through the Drift, threatening to overwhelm the pilots…_

"_No," Aleksis snarled, and he raised his foot. Sasha mirrored the move, face contorted in a determined grimace. Together they kicked, moving in perfect synch, and in response Cherno braced the leg Baba Yaga currently gripped and thrust it forward with all his strength. The move rammed his foot further down the Kaiju's throat, and she gagged and released her grip, gurgling sickeningly, spitting out copious amounts of blue-tinged saliva and a mouthful of teeth._

"_Good lad," Sasha murmured. "Come on, Cherno, get up… you can do this…"_

_The fear in the Drift ebbed, and with the combined efforts of the Rangers Cherno pushed himself to his feet. Warning readouts indicated his left ankle had taken considerable damage, so they shifted as much weight as possible to the right side to minimize any further damage. _

"_She hurt Cherno," Sasha growled. "Let's make her pay for this."_

_Aleksis nodded. "Shock and awe?"_

"_You read my mind," she replied, grinning fiercely, and she reached out to touch a control. Instantly both pilots felt their fists tingle as energy coursed through Cherno's hands._

"_TESLA FISTS ACTIVATED," a computerized voice announced._

_Again Cherno smashed his fists together, and this time sparks burst from his knuckles at the movement, filling the air with the stench of ozone. Baba Yaga hissed, unfazed, and arched her back, the multitude of spines flaring out and seeming to make her swell in size. She lowered her head to tuck it beneath her body, almost as if trying to roll herself into a ball…_

"_Oh no you don't," Aleksis snarled, realizing what the Kaiju was up to. "Sasha, Cherno, NOW!"_

_Before she could curl herself up fully, Cherno's fist landed on the back of her head. The Kaiju gave a shattering scream and shuddered at the blow, sparks flying as electricity jolted through her body, and she uncurled and swatted at the Jaeger in her blind agony. Her claws raked across Cherno's torso, leaving scratches in the metal but not piercing the thick armor, and the Jaeger retaliated with a right hook to Baba Yaga's throat. The scream of pain came out a sickly rasp, and she gaped her jaws open in a frantic effort to suck in air._

"_Let's finish this," Aleksis growled._

_Sasha nodded, and together they worked their fists, their movements in total harmony with each other. Cherno responded immediately, landing blow after electricity-laced blow on Baba Yaga, aiming for the throat and belly and any other softer bits that presented themselves. The Kaiju clawed and snapped a few times in a token effort to fight back, but soon gave up trying to take her foe down and backpedaled in an effort to get away. Her piggy eyes glowed not with rage now, but with mortal fear._

_Sasha cocked her fist back one more time. "_Do svidaniya, _bastard."_

_The final blow landed in Baba Yaga's eye socket, shattering the skull and driving jagged pieces of bone into her brain. The beast thrashed wildly, bright blue ichor pouring in sheets down her neck and chest, then collapsed, her body rapidly vanishing beneath the waves. Cherno hung back, fists raised, waiting for the Kaiju to rise up and keep fighting. They had all learned the hard way that these monsters didn't always stay down when knocked down, and were notoriously difficult to kill._

"_No movement detected," came the call over the radio. "Cherno Alpha, stand down. Kill confirmed." Their commander's tone carried equal parts relief and irritation. "Recalling Eden Assassin. Its pilots aren't going to be happy that we called them up for nothing."_

"_Let them live with a little disappointment," Sasha replied with a smirk. "Cherno's injured – bite damage to the left ankle and foot. He's going to need a lift back to the Shatterdome."_

_The commander sighed. "It, not he. I'll never understand why the two of you insist on calling that Jaeger by the wrong pronouns."_

_Aleksis just shared a knowing smile with Sasha at that. The crew of the Shatterdome would never fully understand, no matter how many times they tried to explain it. Cherno was far more than just their Jaeger, even more than their partner. He was family._

* * *

Tendo Choi waited at the entrance to the Shatterdome as the Kaidonovskys climbed out of the taxi, a helpful technician hanging close by with an umbrella to shield them from the elements. They had arrived here quicker than he'd expected, and privately he hoped the crews had gotten Cherno cleaned up enough to be presentable for them. There was nothing that could be done about the mangled cockpit and reactor tower – at least, nothing that could be done given their current budget and equipment – but at the very least they could wash off the surface gunk and make it look a little less ghastly.

Despite receiving periodic updates on their condition, Tendo couldn't help feeling a little shocked at their appearance. He winced slightly when he saw the scars tracing down Sasha's scalp and left cheek, and the almost bruise-like markings around her eyes. She walked with a limp, and her right arm still hung in a sling. But there was still a determined glint in her eyes, and she waved away the young crewman who had stepped forward to help her out of the car.

Aleksis emerged a moment later, and unlike Sasha he accepted the aid of the crewman in getting out of the vehicle. The reason for that became quickly apparent as he turned to pull a walker out of the cab, and took a few minutes to get the device set up before making his way forward. Aleksis had lost a great deal of weight, and for the first time Tendo could remember he was clean-shaven, making the bright red scars on his jaw stand out all the more. Like Sasha, though, he still wore the same expression of stern calm that he had always worn in the Shatterdome. He almost looked as if he expected to be let back into the cockpit of a Jaeger right away, injured or not.

Tendo shifted his grip on the handle of his umbrella and walked forward to intercept the pair. Best to let them know right away what kind of shape their Jaeger was in. Herc had already explained to him the bond between a Ranger and their mech, and had told him the rumors that the bond between the Kaidonovskys and Cherno Alpha had been infamously stronger than most. He wanted to prepare them for what they were about to see, so they weren't overly shocked at the Jaeger's condition.

"Welcome back, Aleksis, Sasha," he greeted.

Sasha nodded once in acknowledgement. Aleksis took a few careful steps forward before replying: "Choi. Glad to be back."

"I can't begin to tell you how relieved we were to hear you survived," Tendo went on, motioning for the two to follow him to the lift. "When Cherno Alpha went down, we all assumed the worst."

At that, Sasha smirked and finally spoke up. "We do not go down so easily."

"As you've just proven," Tendo noted with a smile as he stepped into the lift. "Before we take you to see Cherno, there're a few things you should know."

The Kaidonovskys exchanged a look, and though it was mostly inscrutable to Tendo's eyes, he swore they looked briefly unsettled at his statement. But it was gone so quickly he decided he must have imagined it. They made their way into the lift, and Tendo waved away the mechanic who tried to join them and shut the doors.

"Cherno Alpha is being flown out of the Shatterdome tomorrow evening," Tendo explained. "You'll have tonight and most of tomorrow to see it, and to… say your goodbyes." He wasn't sure if that was the proper term for a Ranger who had lost their Jaeger, but it was the best he could do. "We're also granting you permission to accompany it during the flight, if you'd like."

"Flight," repeated Aleksis, scowling. "To Oblivion Bay? The Jaeger junkyard? Cherno Alpha is not to be dismantled for scrap."

"I never said he was," Tendo replied calmly. He could have argued that technically Cherno wasn't even their property, and they had no say in what happened now that the Jaeger had officially been retired from duty, but he judged it best not to go that route. "He's going to a museum in Sydney, where he'll be honorably displayed for the public to educate them about the Kaiju War and those who fought in it."

Sasha seemed to ponder that for a moment, as if trying to decide if that was the best place for Cherno. Then she nodded. "That is… better than we had thought. At least he will be safe."

Tendo frowned at the use of "he." Was it common for Rangers to use male and female pronouns for their mechs? He knew Raleigh and Mako had often referred to Gipsy as a "she," but assumed it was mostly as a joke. For all his involvement in the Jaeger program, there were still elements of Ranger culture he had yet to learn, it seemed.

"I'll warn you now… Cherno's in bad shape. Otachi and Leatherback dealt heavy damage to it, and it's pretty ugly at the moment. And it might bring back unpleasant memories."

Aleksis snorted. "We do not care. We want to see him. Ugly or not, he is Cherno."

Tendo nodded. "Of course. I just wanted you to be prepared."

The lift ground to a halt, and the doors opened to reveal the main Jaeger bay. Usually the place was bustling with activity, techs and mechanics and maintenance crews dashing about like mad to complete a multitude of tasks. But today absolutely no work was being done, and it seemed that every soul in the Shatterdome was gathered before the lift doors, expectant looks on every face. And the moment they saw the Kaidonovskys they broke into cheers.

"What is this?" Tendo asked, stunned.

"What, we're not allowed to say 'welcome home' to a couple of our veterans?" asked Raleigh, stepping forward with a grin. "Aleksis, Sasha… I can't begin to say how great it is to see you two again! And still in one piece, even."

Aleksis smirked. "Surprised to see you in one piece, Beckett. We were shocked to hear it was you and Mako who finally sealed the Breach."

"Yeah, who'd have thought?" Raleigh laughed.

Mako stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Welcome back, Aleksis and Sasha. You were greatly missed."

"It's friggin' awesome to see you again!" Newt exclaimed. "This proves it, Russians are freakin' invincible!"

Hermann rolled his eyes. "My apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Kaidonovsky. He's gotten insufferable lately."

Sasha shook her head. "He is fine, Dr. Gottlieb. He would not be Newton if he wasn't somewhat… over the top." She extended a hand to Newt, but drew it back sharply when she realized his arms were full. "What in the…"

"Oh, this little guy?" Newt held up his newly acquired pet with a huge grin. "Just a skin mite from Otachi. They tame pretty nicely once they're off the Kaiju, it turns out. Just gotta keep 'em dosed in ammonia every so often…"

"This is NOT the time and place for it, Newton!" Hermann snapped.

Hercules stepped forward as the two scientists fell back, still bickering between themselves. His seemingly permanent scowl softened as he shared a long look with the two Rangers, a look that somehow spoke volumes between the three of them. Then he gave a sharp nod.

"Nice to see you two," he grunted.

"Likewise," Aleksis replied, nodding back. "We heard about Gipsy and Striker… and your son. And we are sorry."

Herc snorted. "Chuck went down fightin', like he always said he would. An' Striker's sacrifice wasn't for nothin'." His jaw clenched as he fought to keep his emotions contained. "Sorry about Cherno."

"Where is he?" Sasha asked. "We are here to see him."

Raleigh bit his lip nervously. "He's kinda a wreck… but he's back in his hangar. Want us to take you to him?"

"We know the way," Aleksis assured him. "But company would not be unwelcome."

The crowd parted as the Kaidonovskys made their way for Cherno's hangar, accompanied by Herc, Raleigh, and Mako. Tendo followed a few steps behind, feeling oddly superfluous in this whole affair. He was an outsider to the Ranger way of life, and he knew it… but he hoped to understand a bit more, and figured the best way to learn was by watching.

The group passed by Crimson Typhoon's hangar without pause, though Aleksis did crane his neck up to get a better look at the red Jaeger, its repairs nearly complete by this point. At Gipsy's hangar they did stop a moment, as if the spot where the Mark III had once stood was sacred and they were pilgrims paying silent homage to it. It took a quiet nudge from Sasha to get them moving again.

Cherno Alpha's hangar was situated directly between Gipsy Danger's empty hangar and Striker Eureka's former hangar, now belonging to the half-complete Mustang Omega. The massive Mark I remained slumped in the back of its bay, surrounded by puddles of water from its hasty cleanup. While the crews had managed to hose off most of the surface gunk, it was still a gut-wrenching sight. Even Tendo felt himself recoiling slightly, his stomach clenching. A wrecked Jaeger was never a pretty sight, and with its half-melted reactor tower, mangled cockpit, and severed arm, Cherno looked worse than most.

There was a soft intake of breath from Sasha, and she stepped forward, moving to rest a hand on Cherno's enormous foot. She stared up at the Jaeger for a long moment, quiet and still, an air of tension around her so thick that no one dared break the silence. Even Spike was quiet, seeming to sense that now wasn't the time to start making noise or trying to squirm free of his owner's grip.

Sasha's fist clenched, and she leaned forward to rest her forehead against Cherno's foot, tears glistening on her cheeks. Aleksis shuffled forward, leaning heavily on his walker, until he was by her side, and he rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. She shook slightly at the touch, but didn't shake him off, and Aleksis drew her into his arms, letting her bury her face against his chest.

"Aleksis, if there's anything we can do…" began Tendo.

"Leave us," Aleksis replied, his voice rough and threatening to crack. "We… want to be alone with Cherno."

"Of course," Mako replied softly. "Take whatever time you need." She took Raleigh by the arm and steered him out of the hangar. Her fellow Ranger didn't resist, though he did turn to give the two of them a sympathetic look as he left.

"You guys gonna be okay?" asked Newt.

"Oh, bug off and let 'em be," Herc ordered. "Go on, shoo."

"I just asked," Newt muttered, but walked off, Hermann limping close behind.

Tendo waited until the others were gone before speaking up again. "If you two need anything, you know how to reach me. I… I don't understand fully what you're going through… but I am sorry."

Neither Ranger responded, and he took that as his cue to leave. He headed for the hangar next door, intending to check on Mustang's progress. The Mark VI was progressing nicely, and if all continued to go well they might even be done with its construction ahead of schedule. Somehow the news failed to please him as much as he thought it would.

Funny… before the Kaidonovskys had come to the Shatterdome, he had seriously considered asking them to serve as Mustang's pilots. They had been among the best Rangers in the program, and even injured they were a cut above every other candidate out there. But now he didn't dare even suggest that to them. He had a gut feeling that offering them a new Jaeger would be insulting, suggesting that Mustang could replace Cherno in their minds. And if their bond between Jaegers and pilots was indeed this strong, then he seriously doubted they would accept the offer, or even set foot inside another cockpit ever again.

He sighed and took the tablet a tech handed him, ready to go over the day's diagnostics. Even with the war over, their understanding of the monsters they had built to fight monsters had only just begun.

* * *

It had been worse than Aleksis had imagined. He had known Cherno had been badly mangled in the fight with Otachi and Leatherback – hell, he'd felt the Jaeger's pain when his arm had been brutally ripped off, and felt the fire of acid splashing across his armor, eating away at his metallic hide. But nothing, not even Tendo's warnings, could have prepared him for seeing… this.

Even as he held Sasha in his arms, trying to comfort her, he couldn't take his gaze off Cherno. Little attempt had been made to repair the Jaeger beyond sticking his cockpit back into place. Wires and cables dangled from the shoulder socket and severed arm, ends ragged and frayed, and deep punctures marked where claws and teeth had found their marks. Both the cockpit and the reactor tower looked as if someone had taken bites out of them, and what remained of them was warped and twisted by Leatherback's acidic venom. "Beyond repair" had been polite, he realized – Cherno had been half-obliterated.

He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself not to weep, to be strong for Sasha as she had so often been strong for him. This wasn't right; wasn't fair. It was wrong that Cherno had survived countless Kaiju fights, only to be destroyed during what should have been a simple battle. And it wasn't fair that Crimson could have made it through the battle relatively unscathed save losing his cockpit, only for Cherno to be so mercilessly mangled.

Sasha inhaled deeply, then released him and tugged on his arm. He took the unspoken hint and let her lead him to a nearby stack of crates, sitting down with a wince. His legs ached still, unused to bearing his weight for this long, and he hated himself for that weakness. But at least his legs would heal… unlike some other wounds.

"He deserved better," Sasha murmured. "Better than this. He should have been retired with honor, not torn apart by those… beasts."

Aleksis nodded. He could have brought up that they'd had the option to retire Cherno Alpha to a museum in St. Petersburg instead of following Pentecost to the Hong Kong Shatterdome. But neither of them had even entertained that option for a moment. They were warriors, the three of them, and they had vowed to see this war to its conclusion. They hadn't expected to be taken out of commission before the war's end – or to survive the destruction of their Jaeger. But in the end, he supposed they couldn't fully regret their decision.

"You were the greatest of them all, Cherno," Aleksis said quietly, taking Sasha's hand in his. "Others might have been faster, or had more firepower… but none could match your strength."

Sasha squeezed his hand and addressed the Jaeger as well. "You fought well… you did all we commanded you to do and more. You gave your heart to every fight, and it never failed you until the very end. You were our pride and joy… our…" She shook her head, as if unable to continue

Aleksis leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Say it, Sasha. Say it aloud. There's no shame in it. Cherno was our son."

She nodded. "You were… our son. Our family."

There. It was out in the open, and there could be no denying it. Most Rangers, and almost all of the very best ones, had regarded their Jaegers as teammates and partners rather than just massive machines, but the Kaidonovskys' bond with Cherno had gone far deeper. They saw Cherno not just as a comrade, but as their family. Whenever a Kaiju went down under their Jaeger's fists, they had cheered him on like proud parents applauding a child's field goal in a soccer game. Whenever he had taken damage at the hands of an opponent, they had insisted on watching the repairs, as fretful and worried as if they were watching their child get stitches or a broken leg set. And though he had never been able to directly return their affection, they liked to think that Cherno responded to them far better than any other pilot, that he recognized them as his parents and would obey no others.

Now Cherno was as good as dead, and the loss cut them deeply. There could be no replacing him in their hearts, no more than a couple could simply replace a dead son or daughter by having another child in their place.

For a long time they simply sat together, holding one another, looking on at the remains of their beloved Cherno. Neither spoke, but somehow the silence said all that needed to be said. And despite the clamor of the work crews and machinery all around them, eventually physical and emotional exhaustion took its toll, and they drifted off to sleep in one another's arms.

* * *

"What do you think, Dr. Gottlieb?"

Hermann frowned in concentration as he squinted at the tablet Bailey showed him. "You mean to tell me we're three-quarters of the way through construction and no one's thought to check for bugs in the programming?"

Bailey Rossi, a petite twenty-ish woman with short-cropped chestnut hair and thick-rimmed glasses who served as Mustang Omega's lead programmer, winced slightly at Hermann's tone. "We've been scanning for bugs on a regular basis," she insisted. "This one's just managed to slip through the cracks every time for some reason."

"Hmph." Hermann took the tablet and scanned through the lines of the program. "And somehow everyone's just happened to miss that an entire subroutine is failing. Just who are we hiring these days?"

"Well, with the PPDC cutting our funding…" she began.

"Low funds do not excuse shoddy work," Hermann retorted, tapping at the tablet to make edits to the code. "We built the very first Jaegers from scraps, with techs working around the clock to write the programs, and they operated just fine." He handed the tablet back. "There. Give that a go."

"Thanks," she sighed. "You're a lifesaver, Dr. Gottlieb. I don't know where this project would be without your help."

He snorted lightly and turned to leave the hangar, Bailey walking alongside him. "I won't be around forever, you know. The Shatterdome has to learn to get along without me when I go back home."

"Until then, though, you're an asset to us," she insisted, slowing her pace to match his. "I mean, you programmed the very first Jaegers! And you and Dr. Geizler got information about the Breach that saved the world! You know how many of us tech-heads here look up to you? You're just as much heroes as the Rangers!"

At that he gave a little smile. "You flatter me, Rossi. And I'll have to pass that word along to Newton. Or perhaps not – he's gotten rather puffed up and full of himself lately."

"Not undeservedly," she said with a bit of a laugh. "Did he really Drift with a Kaiju? Twice?"

Hermann rolled his eyes. "Given that the first time was only with a chunk of its brain, I'm not sure it counts."

Activity in the Jaeger bay was dying down for the night, many of the mechanics and technicians returning to their quarters to sleep. A skeleton crew would stay on duty during the night to ensure no glitches or mechanical failures occurred overnight, and a few workers would continue construction of Mustang in order to ensure it was finished on schedule, but for the most part everyone was quitting for the day. Hermann and Bailey were hardly the only ones leaving for the night – a steady stream of workers was making for the exit, talking and laughing, ready to call it a day.

Bailey paused a moment to peer into Cherno Alpha's bay, eyes unexpectedly sad. "It's a shame… I always liked Cherno Alpha."

"It was an outdated model," Hermann told her, though not unkindly. "It is a shame to see it go after such a long run, but all things must come to an end sometime. And it's not as if it's being scrapped."

"That's true… still, it's sad to see it go." She took one more look before resuming her walk. "Are Rangers allowed to sleep in the hangars?"

"I don't know," Hermann confessed, "but given the circumstances I doubt anyone's going to call the Kaidonovskys out for breaking the rules."

As they passed Crimson Typhoon's bay, a grungy mechanic moved to join them, mopping his face with a rag that was just as dirty as he was. "You eggheads don't mind if I walk with ya, do ya?"

"Eggheads, honestly," Hermann huffed.

"We don't mind," Bailey replied. "So you finally got off the night crew, Janson?"

He nodded. "Thank God, too. Working nights here gives me the creeps. Don't envy whoever they called in to replace me."

Bailey frowned. "What's wrong with working the night shifts? This place isn't haunted, is it?" She laughed softly, only for the chuckle to taper off when she noted how both men were staring at her. "You don't honestly believe, Dr. Gottlieb…"

"Not haunted per se," Hermann replied. "However… are you familiar with the phenomenon known as 'Ghost-Drifting?'"

She shook her head. "Can't say that I am."

"Come spend a night in here sometime an' find out," Janson said grimly. "Unsettling, it is. Be workin' on an offline Jaeger, mindin' your own business, an' suddenly the thing starts twitching on you. Wouldn't be so bad if they were smaller, but when somethin' the size of a building starts gettin' the shivers you damn well take notice. Near lost Hideaki once when Striker twitched on him and he fell… lucky he landed on a catwalk and just broke his arm…"

"Oh wow," she breathed. "They can move on their own? Do you know what this means, Dr. Gottlieb?"

Hermann shook his head. "Don't get overexcited, Rossi," he advised. "The Jaegers are not coming to life or any such nonsense. The Ghost-Drift has a perfectly reasonable explanation."

Janson snorted in disbelief.

"Drifting is not without it's long-term consequences, as we have discovered," Hermann went on, ignoring the mechanic. "Two Rangers who have been Drifting regularly over a long period of time will often report being able to share thoughts and feelings outside of the neural handshake – a Drift hangover, they often call it. The Kaidonovskys, as you can see, shared a strong bond, and the Wei Tangs' bond was deep enough that they could often predict one another's actions. Rangers have even reported being able to feel one another's pain, or dream in tandem with one another. We haven't been able to explain why yet, but it's a recorded phenomenon all the same

"Ghost-Drifting is similar to the Drift hangover, except it exhibits in the Jaeger itself. When its Rangers are asleep, and if it's still hooked up to a power source, a Jaeger will occasionally respond to its Rangers' thoughts and emotions while they're dreaming. The problem is generally resolved by disconnecting their power until the Rangers have awakened."

Bailey frowned. "That shouldn't be possible, sir. Not unless the Rangers are still hooked to their Pons headsets while they're asleep."

"I'm confident that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this behavior," Hermann replied. "It's just a matter of finding it is all."

Janson snorted again. "Unnatural, if you ask me. Just glad I ain't gotta be around nights anymore to see it. What happens if one of 'em starts sleepwalking or somethin'? An' Crimson's been awfully twitchy ever since its pilots went into comas… only be a matter of time before someone gets killed."

"Oh, do stop with the paranoia," Hermann advised.

The mechanic, scientist, and programmer stepped into the lift, still talking amongst themselves. None of them thought to look back at Cherno Alpha's hangar before the lift doors closed. If they had, they might have noted that despite not being connected to a power source, the Mark I Jaeger was flexing the fingers of its still-intact hand just slightly…


End file.
